My husband and I used to live near his family in Chicago, Illinois.
He wasn’t really close to his parents or siblings.
Due to proximity, we were always involved. It was constant going to BBQs, pool events or events with the family. My husband would fight with his brother and his mother would be mean to me. Once we had kids it was clear we needed to move. Our kids going to a city school wasn’t great. It was a lot of negative experiences and their cousins weren’t good influences. We didn’t want to move too far, but just far enough. My husband and I moved closer to my family and now our home base is Libertville Iliioinois. The area is much more rural and safer. The school my kids go to is a much better fit. Rather than doing things on tick tock, the kids focus on their grades. Since the weather is so cold in Libertyville, there are quite a few winter sports. My kids are really involved with hockey. My kids have a travel hockey team they go on every year. Over the summer it is hockey, hockey. During the school year they still have a more local team that they practice with. It is so much nicer for us. The events we go to are sporting ones that my family attends. If my husband feels we need to see his family, it is a haul for us. It is almost three hours in the car just one way. It discourages him from seeing them too often.